Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Firsts

For some time we have been enjoying our fields of milkweed flowers. Their fragrance is intoxicating. We are not the only ones who find it so, the meadow has been buzzing with bees in recent weeks. Usually by this time we have seen lots of Monarch butterflies flitting around but so far we have seen only the orange of Checker butterflies.

Some of the flowers have already gone past and milkweed seedpods are beginning to form. At last today we saw our first Monarch butterfly in the garden. It was only one so far, but it is a start.

Ed was out in the garden early trying to beat the heat. Here he waters the second planting of summer squash and zucchini. This may be a little late since we usually have a late September frost but if we don't plant seed now we can be certain that there will be no more squash then. At least this way we have a chance. We picked our first summer squash from the garden today, and I have my eye on a beautiful green zucchini for tomorrow.

Ed has been tending his tomatoes, watching for a sign of red. I had been watching a cherry tomato beginning to turn red and today when I walked in the garden I was thrilled to find three ripe red tomatoes. One of them was about the size of a pea, but it was red just the same. I had not noticed the ripe yellow tomatoes before, but there were four or five of those. I have to admit I popped one in my mouth right out there in the garden. It was delicious warmed by the sun. The rest I brought inside to join the summer squash for our evening meal. I hope all of these garden treats are just the first of many!